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Post by doublechevron on Sept 2, 2014 16:24:59 GMT 10
Hi every one Ive been trying to find new handles for our Franklin but unable to find any at all, which is a bummer, still need 4, But getting back to the point ,has any one thought of using electroplating to do the old handles back to new condition I would need to get 12 done and what price am i looking at, is it worth doing Regards Peter Depends where you are ... We have an old time barrel plater in ballarat.  As you can see I have used him a couple of times. Are they handles proper metal or muck metal crap ? There's some pictures here of rusted greasy filthy crap I dropped off at ballarat heat treatments. You need to scroll down the thread a bit. www.aussiefrogs.com/forum/citro%EBn-forum/90325-best-project-car-you-have-ever-seen-9.htmlseeya, Shane L. |
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Post by doublechevron on Aug 22, 2014 15:24:51 GMT 10
Well done Al I was thinking it would be good idea to kick off a what too look for topic. My contribution: - One should take a Look down the side of the van to make sure it is true (Straight) I have seen them bent. Some time from overloading and other times from poor construction. Then there is the floor make sure it does not feel spongy when walking on it. If the underside is not treated it will absorb moisture. I have come across some vans that have had a tape used to seal around windows and other joins. This stuff is okay for a couple of years if the van is kept under cover but it becomes porous after awhile. It saves time in the construction phase & generates work for the service people later on. Bob That's for sure. There is a 'van for sale for $6500 on a local facebook group at the moment. It looks really tidy in all the piccies including a very good looking annexe ...................... But, um ...................... Who in there right mind would buy this ...  The whole thing is bent like a banana .... look at the rear window, it not even straight into the cladding. That caravans only any good for parts given it's entire structure is bent. |
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Post by doublechevron on Aug 19, 2014 22:47:02 GMT 10
Wouldn't it drive you crazy.... I wanted to convert the HT 14" holden wheels on the caravan to HQ 14" wheels to match the same stud pattern as the trailers here.... that way they could share tires/spares etc... I purchased some replacement drums off ebay after getting the seller to measure them all up. They appeared identical. I just went to fit them up. Can you believe it, the rear bearing seat sits 4mm deeper in the HQ drums. Yep didn't see that coming. So I can't use them unless I change the backing plates, pads and mounts.
Bloody frustrating right ?
seeya,
Shane L.
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Post by doublechevron on Aug 15, 2014 16:27:15 GMT 10
I'm pretty sure you'll find the old 3ways fridges are designed to work on gas or 240volts....12volts is just to try and keep the temperature down a bit while it's hooked you your *running* car.
You would probably flatten a car battery in a couple of hours running one on 12volts.... so you can imagine how many batteries you need if your going to try and run one of 12volts for a few days. Plus I've found there all but hopeless on 12volts. gas however works very well.
seeya,
shane L.
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Post by doublechevron on Aug 14, 2014 14:29:58 GMT 10
Well, it's been a while - nothing really to report. Within a week of getting it home, we had some friends move into it as they were relocating down to Melbourne from interstate. The idea was they could stay a couple of months while they found jobs and got sorted. Well, they're still here nearly 6 months later.... Good news is they are moving out next weekend, so I can finally get stuck into it. I'll report back once I have it again and start to get it mobile once more. Cheers - Snoops. My father tells me those old Franklins were bagged by one and all when new. Everyone said "Don't buy them, they'll fall apart before you even get them home".......... Here we are 40years later and there still rolling along the roads. The foam sandwich caravans are still being made today by a lot of the European manufactures... There way stronger than the frail box sitting on top of a chassis caravans sold locally. ditzygypsy.proboards.com/thread/342/franklin-caravans-ballarat-vic?page=1There's some piccies here of the way they were made. Same deal today if you watch the pommy caravan factories. They pre-cut the wall and roof panels, then bolt them together to the massively thick floor (which is kind of the chassis) creating one incredibly strong "box" structure with no real separate chassis. Good to hear you getting the visitors out of the 'van. Your going to have to lift it about a meter and fit a pintle hook to it to make sure no-one else can borrow it    I'm deliberatly leaving our old caravan without windows and side trims to make sure my sister inlaw doesn't want to try live in it ..... bugger that ... I'd burn it first. The very last thing I'll do before it's ready for the road is re-seal it and fit the windows.... No-one wants to stay in a windowless caravan  seeya, Shane L. |
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Post by doublechevron on Aug 14, 2014 11:21:35 GMT 10
I will move it to my sons house next week and cover it with my truck tarp until summer when I will spend a week sealing it all. It does not have 4 seasons hatches as it's 1971 model so it's before they came out. The roof has been resealed by one of the previous owners. But I still don't want it to get water damage now it's been water free for so long. Time to get some quality sealant for the job. Any ideas? I have used sika flex before but am worried that it's almost impossible to get apart again. I was going to use the polyurethane seal 'n' flex ... but now I've almost finished cleaning all the corner seals........... I reckon I'll just use roof and gutter silicon. If I "hydraulic" it in and waste shitloads, I can never see the edge trims ever needing to be removed ever again. The silicon that's behind the trim should last the life of the caravan given it's out of the sun. Silicon never seems to degrade if correctly applied. The windows will be foam tape and mastic.... I guarantee, if there stuck in with anything, the kids will break them requiring removal within 12months............... I look at the sheer size of that caravan and think "What a job" ... removing all the old sealant is going to take forever LOL seeya, Shane L. |
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Post by doublechevron on Aug 13, 2014 11:43:58 GMT 10
I recon that'll leak like an absolute sieve... all the mastic will have turned to concrete decades ago. Do you have it stored in a shed until you can find the 6months it'll take to strip out the windows and corner seals and re-seal. It would be a huge shame to let it get water damaged inside! I have no doubt it'll leak from every single seal and window/4seasons hatch given the old original mastic I've found in my caravan  seeya, Shane L. |
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Post by doublechevron on Aug 12, 2014 16:20:03 GMT 10
Yeah, I've been doing the maths, too. My quick guesstimate is around 40K for a 6 month lap. I do like the V8 burble which is why I got it in the first place. Pretty funny though - the 302 V8 has only 30 kilowatts more than my late model 2L turbo diesel Mondeo. I bet the old 302 has nowhere near the factory specs for power/torque (I reckon they pulled figures out of thin air back in the 70s). No doubt the little diesel will have way more pulling power than the 302, especially bolted to a modern gearbox. seeya Shane L. |
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Post by doublechevron on Jul 22, 2014 22:13:30 GMT 10
Thanks Al, yeah it should look quite tidy when finished. I never intended getting it "perfect", just tidy. I like it, every time I see the bodgy "to wide" light blue stripe across that fridge vent, it'll remind me of how excited the kids were masking the side of it up, and having a go at spraying the stripes LOL. I should be out there now doing the other side (stripping all the old sealer off). It's bloody cold though.... 0degrees out there .... I guess all the scraping off of sealer would keep you warm though  The vinyl across the front is a good idea. It'll no doubt happen at some point in the future. This is what the stoneguard finish looks like. It's applied with a stoneguard gun prior to the colour being sprayed  seeya, Shane L. |
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Post by doublechevron on Jul 21, 2014 13:47:28 GMT 10
This is what I was working with when I tried to paint it outside.... hopeless to see how the paint was going on...  Hopeless right Anyway, I haven't been able to do anything for ages, as it's simply way to cold. Finally I decided I'd just see what happens. I picked a day that wasn't too humid...  The temperature made the paint thick ... probably 8degrees ... sigh .. but it applied quite well, didn't blush due to the coldness and still dried quickly. That supercheap enamel sure it surprising. It didn't apply perfectly everywhere 'cos I couldn't really see the wet edge when I was spraying it (gee's white is a nuts of a colour to see how it's applying. If it was a deep red or blue/black ... you'd see how it's going on as it came out of the gun). The kids helped mask up and paint the stripes down the side..... Oh yeah, don't use the bunnings masking tape ... The bloody paint wicks under the edges of it and you don't end up with clean lines. We'll get the other two sides a lot better  You can see where I applied stoneguard under the paint across the lower front too hide a lot of the stone strikes. It doesn't need to be perfect after all. It's just an old caravan that's worth next to nothing, I just want it too look neat and clean .......... and most importantly not leak! seeya, shane L. |
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Post by doublechevron on Jun 17, 2014 11:50:52 GMT 10
Hi Sue, it's just standard automotive filler from the local auto-paints store. It's not like painting a car, I've only got it "close enough". You'd spend 1/2lifetime trying to get caravan cladding perfect. The cladding is *really* soft. I just left "highs" where the frame below it. the alloy frames tend to bend the cladding outward slightly where it's been pushed on. The wooden frame caravans wouldn't do this as the wood is a lot wider. I've struggled a lot 'cos the existing paint on this keeps frying up where ever I apply primer or even enamel pressure pack paint... So you end up chasing your tail in circles. Fortunately that supercheap enamel white doesn't cause it to fry. I did spray a coat of white enamel on it last week..... Wow I made a mess, I couldn't tell outside in the sun the gun was splattering like crazy and causing runs at the same time LOL..... Oh well, it's a nice guide coat for me to sand back for a better finish I'm going to use the supercheap enamel as a "sealer" coat by dusting it on, then give it a good solid coat to give a good finish. This time I'll setup the gun under some lighting and put the 2.0 needle/seat into it. seeya, Shane L. |
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Post by doublechevron on May 30, 2014 22:35:37 GMT 10
Here's something interestingn.... That front window... I'm going to paint the front and side wall and seal them, then do the other side an rear wall. My first thought was "some moron has replaced all the screws with wood screws"........ hmmm...    The window fell out easily .... There appears to be no sealer really anywhere. Note: how clean and shiny the whole edge is.... It's obviously never leaked ....  behind the cladding looks brand new ... amazing given the age of the thing. How has it not leaked with no sealer there? Note: the front wall is wooden, not alloy... that's why the windows fitted iwth wood screws.   It's like a firm'ish rubber. It's a shame I can't re-use it ... given it's never leaked. I'll use foam tape and rubber butyl as suggested by the cabcar guy over on the caravan forum when I refit it. seeya, shane L. |
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Post by doublechevron on May 20, 2014 13:34:26 GMT 10
When we were kids my parents had "Cabana" caravans. The ends expand out, but it's all solid. They don't appear to have aged well. But if you can find a good one of these, it'll give you two beds that aren't filling the living area. Finding a good one will be the trick.
seeya,
Shane L.
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Post by doublechevron on May 18, 2014 21:52:11 GMT 10
Get one with an anexe and put your bed out there. Caravans are hot boxes, you'll never get a baby to sleep inside one if it's hot during the day. Portable A/C's however are really cheap used on ebay these days. Life will change a lot with a baby, but it'll be great. stick the baby inside and use it as a bedroom for the baby. leave the portacot setup in there and don't bother with the beds inside. our 18month old is pulling my hair as I type this If it must be small, there's a very good reason why those old windup vans with the pull out ends were so popular for so long.... the interior of the caravan isn't used up with the beds. seeya, Shane L. |
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Post by doublechevron on May 17, 2014 23:19:31 GMT 10
Thanks! I didn't realise someone had replied to my messages here I have a few posts over on the caravaners forum about it. I did remove the wall sheet....  They sure are nicely built these old things, even the window corners appear to be a nylon/plastic not wood.  I trimmed up and overlapped the panel to the OUTSIDE!! tucking under the lower sheet and trying to sell it up with goop is crazyness! This was obviously repaired when the caravan was quite new and the wallsheet was still available. What ever you do don't tell my wife the easiest way I found to cut the cladding!! I then re-installed the sheet using a polyurethane sealer (sandable and paintable).   To get around the ugly overlapping lines, I bought a roll of automative bump strip and ran it down the seems. This is the stage I'm at now. When the polyurethane sealer dries I'll sand it all slightly to match and prime. With it all painted white it should look fine. It doesn't look like I've done much here at all.... But I''ve spent a lot of hours labouriously removing all the old sealer, then wire brushing all of the edges. I've sanded/keyed the entire wall ready for painting. Slapped some bog over any low bits, high bits where the frame has bent the sheets slightly looks "right" to me for an old aluminium framed van so stays. With the sealing up bit, that cabcar over on the caravan forum suggest Bostik seal 'n' flex to seal them up (that I haven't yet found locally). What I have found at the local bunnings store is Selleys "flexyseal" polyurthane sealer. This should be perfect, the main thing is I don''t want an adhesive .... 'cos the 'van will then be permanently stuck together. A bit over $10 for a sausage of the stuff is cheap too ( and it unlike silicon can be sanded and painted). caravanersforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=103&t=46725Rainmaker over on the caravan forum painted his caravan with supercheap enamel would you believe ... $60buxs a tin ( amazingly cheap). He reckons the stuff was brilliant (given he's been a spray painter, I'll go with his recomendation).  Across the front has quite a lot of stone strike marks, so what I'll probably do is spray the bottom 1/3rd with water based stone guard painting before spraying (I've used it in the past, and it was remarkably good). The fun part is when this is done ............ I still have half a caravan to go ! Imagine if it was a 20+foot long 'van, it would take me forever to finish! |
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Post by doublechevron on Apr 29, 2014 11:18:46 GMT 10
Read here .... that cabcar certainly seems to know which way the nuts flow www.caravanersforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3543I'm using his posts as a guide to re-seal the 'van I have here. My 'van matches yours. It's always been kept under cover so have almost no evidence of water damage. On pulling the edge trims on one side I've found it would have leaked like a sieve :eek: seeya, Shane L. |
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Post by doublechevron on Apr 23, 2014 22:42:00 GMT 10
Hi all, well this is interesting.... I whipped out my trusty pocket knife and ran it around the window, and it popped right out. um ................. i wasn't exactly expecting that .....   Oh boy, that's going to have to be trimed and overlapped to the outside where it can be viewed. I can't leave it like that :eek:  It appears it needs a "pitburg seam" there. It would be impossible to fold onto the sheet though... Has anyone struck this before. I wonder if I can get the "pitsburg seam" folded on there if I remove the sheet. seeya Shane L. |
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Post by doublechevron on Apr 22, 2014 23:04:13 GMT 10
Thanks, I'd never heard of that annex rail type ( I can't understand how it works by looking at it ). I'll get some sail track. Finally I've finished lifting up one of the crappy old sheds in my yard, so the caravan would clear under it....   This was the only thing that I was concerned about when I purchased this caravan. You can see a portion of the cladding has been removed and very poorly refitted.   The profile is correct, but you can see the line of pop rivets, and the poorly lapped sheets. One side does have is flanged, but poorly flanged, so it doesn't line up nicely.... This I could repair probably....  This is the bit I'm scratching my head about... See there is a raised part that overlaps the lower panel, but *not* on the section that's been removed... Rather it appears to be filled with silicon ( amazingly it appears to have never leaked !).  I figured whoever refitted the panel forgot to overlap the lip, and it would be hidden under silicon ... easy fit, remove and refit the panel....  Sadly this isn't case, the removed part overlaps by about 2cm, plenty to make a good leak free seal, but .... we really need this to overlap the lower sheet, rather than try to seal it. Not only is the silicon ugly, it also wasn''t keyed :eek: Why do poeple do that, if your going to stick/paint/seal something, sand the shine off first!!! I managed to peal a length of silicon straight out 'cos it let go with a bit of force from the shiny surface. No doubt this thing was repaired 20+ years ago, Does anyone have any bright ideas on how to fix?? Other than reseal the gap with a sikaflex type product that can be painted with the whole side of the caravan I'm not sure? I not even going to ask about buying replacement sheet, there's no way in a million years you'd find something with the correct profile seeya, Shane L. |
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Post by doublechevron on Apr 10, 2014 14:27:57 GMT 10
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Post by doublechevron on Apr 10, 2014 10:42:41 GMT 10
the citroen was certainly a car ahead of its time. I once had a friend that owned one and he use to take delight in showing us the things he could do with the cars suspension. If I have it correct they were the first or the very earliest to produce a front wheel drive car. The 52 models are real rare these days I guess only collectors would have them now and as for the 1978 one. I don't think we had to many way down under. They were a car you either liked or hated... The owners were always passionate about them. The latest versions are about but rather rare.. My father's first car was a 1934 Singer sedan with pre selector gear box. I didn't know that until after I had rejected an offer of one. I know have "the" photo of his and would like to get my hands on one. bobt Gee's those weirdo citroen owners are everywhere. Personally I think there all a bit nuts myself  FWD had been around for a few years in the old Cords hand't it ?? You talking the old Traction Avant by the sounds of it.  This on is my fathers. They have torsion bar suspension and a monoque structure, that's why there's no running boards or chassis there. They were known as the ultimate "getaway" car in there time. If you wanted a getaway car you went and stole one of these first. They're slow, but outhandled/outdrove just about anything from there time ( 1930's -> 1950's ).   The "D" I have a couple of on the roads. These cars were the pinnacle of design for Citroen... they have turned too nuts since poogoe took them over. The blue one will probably always be called "Bobs car", the ugly pink one was found in a shed over in bendigo, I've spent a couple of years on it to get it back on the road. It sill need painting, but I'm enjoying driving it around as a battered looking wreck at the moment (several of the panels even still have the original 50year old paint on them). These cars are all hydraulic, hydraulic clutch, hydraulic gearchange (there still a manual, but hydraulic rams do the work of operating the clutch and gearchange), hydraulic suspension, "Hull" type chassis where the body panels are just decorative items, fully powered (not power assisted) steering. High pressure brakes (the brake "pedal" is a rubber blob on the floor like a dimmer switch, it just opens a valve to allow high pressure hydraulic fluid into the brakes). They have true center point steering, you can completely loose a front wheel at speed and they still drive and brake arrow straight. Massive inboard brakes (remember this is 1955 were talking). There will never be another car like this made. Not ever   This is my tired old CX .... It's that last of the 'real' Citroens before Poogoe stuffed 'em all up. This one has been used as our "towcar" for about 10years, towing car trialers, caravans.... well anything that can be connected to a towbar. Last year I bought an old Range Rover Classic to tow stuff with so I could stop using the poor old thing as a tractor. seeya, Shane L. |
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Post by doublechevron on Apr 9, 2014 15:46:30 GMT 10
Gee's and I thought went overboard writing out the 7pin round wiring connections on the wall of my shed so I don't have to keep looking them up LOL.
I've wired my trailers all 7pin round, and fitted LED lights. Since doing that I haven't had to fix a trailer wiring issue in about 4years. I'll do the same for the caravan (but try to keep the nice looking period tail lights). I've also setup the back of the old Rangie Classic (my tow barge) with flat and round plugs so "in theory" I can hook anything upto the tug and I can plug it's wiring in.
Also ... run the earth wire around to everything, it's no extra effort. There's nothing more tiresome than earthing issues.
seeya,
Shane L.
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Post by doublechevron on Apr 8, 2014 19:29:44 GMT 10
There's inside piccies ? Cable brakes ?? You know those suckers might just work then. I'm guessing you run engine vacuum to the back of the car and plug in. That sounds bizare I googled removing lichen too... Everyone seems to say "pressure wash it off".... there talking tiles and roofs etc... I wouldn't pressure wash a caravan. seeya, shane L. |
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Post by doublechevron on Apr 8, 2014 12:54:40 GMT 10
So that's the one that's nice and tidy inside ? I'd love too see the setup. Is it 4bunk along one wall ?? That thing will be a ripper. I reckon it might pay to buy same brand new wheels and tyres ( $90bucks on ebay in melbourne) before you move it. Dunno how the brakes work though. I can see a big vacuum booster there, I have no idea how those brakes work (where does the vacuum come from ?). They'll no likely be sized though The diaphragm in the booster is probably disintegrated from old age too. It'll look great cleaned with new stripes painted on it That lichen is ceramic/stone like and hard to scrape off right seeya, Shane L. |
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Post by doublechevron on Apr 4, 2014 13:04:31 GMT 10
Hmm, serious answer? You need to find a sparky. See what your sparky says with regards to lights He'll be the one fitting them!. If your going 12volt only you'll need convert 240volt A/C -> 12volts DC. Have a look at the new caravans for an idea of the electrical setup. seeya, Shane L. |
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Post by doublechevron on Apr 2, 2014 8:44:54 GMT 10
Excellent, some great free camping areas out there too (not that I've stayed at them myself ). |
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